A Whiff of Amortentia
by 06-16
Summary: Set after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Jean Granger returns for her final year at Hogwarts, alone. With the help of a certain foul git, she might discover that Amortentia, a powerful love potion, might not smell the way she remembers.


**Author's Note:** Quick warning. This is not plagiarism. I am not putting J.K. Rowling's books on this website. This chapter is just to remind readers of what is going on in the story. This is like a rewrite of the chapter. Just a re-fresher. This is the only time I will be doing this. I will repeat this after the prologue so I don't have some prick badgering me about this. I will take this down if necessary. If you know that I am not allowed to have such stuff up on, please let me know _kindly._

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 **Prologue**

 _September 2nd, 1996_

After their free after-lunch period, Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the corridor to the Potions classroom to find only a dozen people had made it to the N.E.W.T level class. Four Slytherins, including Malfoy but not Crabbe and Goyle, who evidently failed to meet the requirements of a N.E.W.T. level potions class, had made it through their O.W.L.s, along with four Ravenclaws and one Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan.

"Harry," Ernie Macmillan greeted him in a pompous manner, extending his hand out for Harry, "did not get a chance to speak during Defense Against the Dark Arts this morning. Good lesson, I thought, but Shield Charms are _prim_ _ary_ for us old D.A. lags, we went far beyond material like that . . . And how are you, Ron — Hermione?" Neither of them had the chance to reply with a simple "fine," as the dungeon door to the Potions classroom had opened, Slughorn's belly protruding out the door. The small crowd of students hovering in the corridor filed into the room, walking past Slughorn who greeted his Slug Club members, Harry and Zabini, with particular enthusiasm.

Inside the dungeon three large cauldrons, along with one small one, greeted the students as they walked in and took their seats. The four Slytherins took one table while the four Ravenclaws took another. This left Harry, Ron, and Hermione to share a table with Ernie. They chose a table nearest to a large, gold cauldron which was emitting the most beautiful, enchanting scent that Hermione had ever had the pleasure of inhaling. Ron and Harry too seemed to smell the enchanting scent as they shot each other lazy, blissful grins.

"Now then, now then," Slughorn said, his form pulsating behind the cauldron fumes, "get those scales out . . . and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of _Advanced Potion-Making. . ._ "

"Sir?" Harry said, raising his hand up in the air.

"Harry, m'boy?"

"I haven't got a book or scales or any of the materials for Potions — neither has Ron — we didn't realize we'd be able take the N.E.W.T level class, you see —"

"Ah . . . That's right. Professor McGonagall did mention that . . . not to worry, not at all, m'dear boy. You may use ingredients from the store cupboard today, and I'm sure a student here may lend you the both some scales, and we've got a small stock of old books here, they'll do until you can write to Flourish and Blotts for your own copies . . ." Slughorn went over to a corner cupboard and returned a moment later with two battered copies of _Advanced Potion-Making_ and two worn scales in his hands, all of which he handed to Harry and Ron.

"Now then," said Slughorn to a deep breath, causing his strained waistcoat to threatened to burst, and moved to the front of the class to stand next to the cauldron by the Slytherin table. "I've prepared a few potions for you to take a glance at. These are the kind of thing you all should to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. Being in your sixth year at Hogwarts you ought to have heard of these potions, nevermind that you've never made them. Anyone tell me what this one is?" He indicated to the cauldron nearest to the Slytherin's table. Hermione sat a little straighter in her chair as to peer into the cauldron. Upon seeing the clear, plain boiling substance that resembled water, Hermione raised her hand high in the air, knowing the correct answer right away. Slughorn pointed to her.

"It's Veritaserum. It forces the drinker to tell the truth. It can be identified by the fact that it's colorless and odorless potion," said Hermione, reciting what she had once read. In front of Hermione, the Slytherins snickered among themselves. Neither Slughorn nor Hermione seemed to notice.

"Very good, very good!" Slughorn chuckled happily. "Now," he continued, pointing to the cauldron that was closest to the Ravenclaw's, "this one is well known for its unique properties . . . It has been featured in a few Ministry leaflets lately too. . . Who can —?" Hermione's hand shot up in the air, she was once again the fastest.

"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir," she said. Hermione could never forget the slow-bubbling, mud-like substance that was Polyjuice Potion. After all, she had brewed it successfully back in her second year. It was not a matter she liked to recall, as the potion had not worked out pleasantly for her.

"Excellent, just excellent! Now let's see who can take a guess at this one here. . . yes, my dear?" said Slughorn, beginning to look slightly bemused as Hermione's hand soared into the air once again.

"That is Amortentia!"

"Indeed! It is. It seems almost certainly _foolish_ to ask you, m'dear," he smiled, looking impressed by the witch, "but I assume you know what it does?"

"It's the most powerful, and therefore _dangerous,_ love potion in the world."

"Well put! Take twenty points for Gryffindor! You recognized it, I'm quite sure, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in the characteristic spirals," Hermione added, "It's supposed to smell differently to each of us, in accordance to what attracts us, and I can smell freshly mown grass and new parchment and -"

She stopped, turning bright pink. She had smelled spearmint toothpaste, just the kind that sat next to the sink in the bathroom on the third landing at the Burrow. Her nose scrunched in concentration as she heard Professor Slughorn ask for her name faintly in the background. There was a fourth smell underneath the grass, parchment, and toothpaste. It conflicted with the toothpaste. The aroma emitted by Amortentia was not supposed to exceed three scents, this contradicted with the process of olfaction.

Did the fourth scent mean she has a second possible future?

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 **Author's Note:** Warning: Pretty much a repeat of what's above with some added details *like the next chapter*. I'm quite sure all of you could tell this was a rewrite of Chapter Nine from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. If you have not read the books, you should still recognize this as it's in the movie. Don't think I'm plagiarizing J.K.R. This chapter is the only time when I will be actually be . . . "quoting"/rewriting/ _whatevering_ the books. I will refer to previous books often but not in this manner. This chapter is the backbone of the entire novel. So, I felt it necessary that I include this. The next chapter (whenever that'll be released) will be the first chapter of this novel. It'll start in 1998 at the Burrow. The whole Weasley clan, Harry, Hermione will be there. It also has a similar theme to a chapter from Book Five. Look forward to it.


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